In the News
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January 27, 2026
A Florida company’s plans to revive a shuttered nuclear plant on Lake Michigan may spur a nuclear breakthrough: America’s first commercial “small modular reactors” — mini nuclear power plants but cheaper, safer, faster to build and easier to finance. Michael Craig, associate professor of energy systems and climate, says SMRs are in a sweet spot right now: “They’re in this perfect ground where there’s lots of great ideas … and they have a lot of promise and potential.” Using this technology is “a very sensible approach” because it should ease the licensing and supply chain process, says Brendan Kochunas, associate professor of nuclear engineering and radiological sciences.
CNN -
January 27, 2026
AI might be able to help people undergoing balance training as part of their physical rehabilitation, new research shows. “Our machine learning model used data from wearable sensors to predict how physical therapists would rate patients’ performance on balance exercises, providing a basis to make recommendations about the most appropriate set of exercises to perform next,” said Kathleen Sienko, professor of mechanical engineering. Xun Huan, associate professor of mechanical engineering, said “it is very important to understand both the strengths and potential failure modes of machine learning in physical therapy, where people’s well-being is directly at stake.”
U.S. News & World Report -
January 27, 2026
“The price of vehicles has gone up in part because of fuel-efficient standards, but that’s only a small part of it. It’s gone up because cars are much more luxurious than they used to be. They’re bigger, they’re heavier and there’s other inflation,” said Erik Gordon, clinical assistant professor of entrepreneurial studies. “I think the real key to cheaper cars is to have … cars that are smaller, cars that are less expensive to build, cars that have less fancy stuff.”
CBS News Detroit -
January 26, 2026
“Improving overall diet quality may be one meaningful step women can take to support metabolic health when they aren’t getting enough sleep,” said Haneen Bou Ghanem, doctoral student in nutritional sciences, who found that among women who slept less than seven hours a night, those who ate a Mediterranean-style diet showed fewer signs of metabolic syndrome — a cluster of risk factors linked to heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Earth.com -
January 26, 2026
New dietary guidelines urging Americans to eat far more meat and dairy products could have a large environmental cost via huge swathes of habitat razed for farmland and millions of tons of extra planet-heating emissions, said Benjamin Goldstein, assistant professor of environment and sustainability: “If we are adding more greenhouse gases to impose unnecessary ideas of protein intake, that’s going to destabilize the climate further. It’s going to have a big impact.”
Mother Jones -
January 26, 2026
“To me, it is just stunning the extent to which the victims of brutal shootings, that left one paralyzed for the rest of his life, were not treated as victims at the time, and also that they have been largely erased from this critically important historical event since,” said Heather Ann Thompson, professor of history and Afroamerican and African studies, about the four Black teens shot by Bernhard Goetz on a New York subway in 1984.
The New York Times -
January 23, 2026
Editor’s note: The following item is being re-run from Friday’s Record email due to an incorrect article link:
“Lower incomes aren’t the only thing driving the higher housing cost burden. Detroit seniors pay more for all homeownership costs … not only as a proportion of home values and income, but also in terms of real costs,” wrote Amanda Nothaft, director of data and analysis at Poverty Solutions. “Detroiters face higher rates for auto insurance, and they pay more for utilities, compared to others in the state, adding to a situation where many residents, especially seniors on fixed incomes, struggle to make ends meet.”
Bridge Detroit -
January 23, 2026
“When viewed through a narrow lens, health care is often deemed an unavoidable short-term expense rather than a long-term investment in the health of our communities. Likewise, cutting or undervaluing innovation may save money today, but it raises costs and health risks for patients tomorrow,” said David C. Miller, CEO of Michigan Medicine. “The health care cost conversation needs a reset — one that moves beyond price alone and focuses on access, prioritizing value, equity and innovation.”
The Detroit News -
January 23, 2026
“He is not just latching onto things his base supports, but latching on to things that he knows will anger the other side. Which then, of course, makes these posts gain a lot of attention,” said Audrey Halversen, doctoral student in communication and media, about President Trump’s deliberately transgressive, meme-heavy style of social media communication — copying the forms of internet humor, but turning its knowing and absurd cultural references into ragebait.
CNN -
January 22, 2026
Dementia can cause people to overlook unpaid bills or buy items they already own or don’t need — both common signs of memory impairment in people who are typically careful with their finances. “There’s a lot of reasoning and memory that go into financial tasks, and so (money management errors) can certainly be an early way that people experience changes,” said Judith Heidebrink, clinical professor at neurology.
New York Post
